


Fractured Moonlight

by dxs



Series: Tumblr vignettes [3]
Category: Red Hood: Lost Days
Genre: Baby Damian Wayne, Catatonic Jason Todd, Gen, Jason Todd and Damian Wayne Meet in the League of Assassins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:01:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23432821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dxs/pseuds/dxs
Summary: Damian takes in a broken birdFor the April Fool Fluff Flip: Damaged Wings
Relationships: Jason Todd & Damian Wayne
Series: Tumblr vignettes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1625221
Comments: 5
Kudos: 334





	Fractured Moonlight

Damian al Ghul's steps are as hurried as he can make them without looking suspicious, while crossing the yard. He knows that he will be severely punished if he is caught. 

Not only did he sneak out of the compound against grandfather's orders, he found and rescued an injured crow on his way back. 

He should have left the crow to die. It was weak and judging by the shredded state of its wings, it lost a fight to a cat. 

Weakness has no place in the world, grandfather always said. 

But Damian could not bring himself to ignore the wounded bird. So he tucked it inside his robe to hide it from sight, until they were both safe. 

He is almost in his quarters when his ~~brother~~ mother's pet appears, blocking his path in. 

The pet watches Damian with the same familiar vacant eyes, as silently as he has been since Mother introduced them. For all that Grandfather abhors weakness, Damian can not fathom how he suffers Mother's pet to live, or to allow Mother to invest valuable resources on such a simple entity. 

It would be an act of mercy to end his pitiful existence. 

Every attempt to sidestep the pet proves futile, when he refuses to let Damian through. 

"Get out of my way, Simpleton," Damian growls, his free hand drawing out the sword strapped to his back. 

Mother has warned him against attacking her pet, but Damian is quickly losing his patience. 

Instead of complying with Damian's command, the pet grabs the hand cradling the hurt bird. He plucks it out of Damian's grip before Damian can resist. 

"Please don't tell Grandfather," Damian pleads, hanging his head in shame and fear. The thought of what punishment Grandfather would have for him almost brings him to his knees. 

The pet has never spoken a word since Damian met him, but it could be a plot to make everyone lower their guards around him. Who knows how he convinced Mother to take him in? 

"I do not care if you do," Damian informs him, his voice as haughty and commanding as he has heard Mother's and Grandfather's. "I will deny and it will be my word against yours. Who do you think Grandfather will believe? His grandson or a simpleton mother picked out of the trash?" 

His words garner no reaction from the pet and if he considers Damian and the sword in his hand a threat to him, he makes no show of it. 

Instead, he focuses on examining the hurt bird in his arms. Once he is satisfied with his examination, mother's pet tucks the bird under his britches and turns around. 

"Where do you think you're going with that?" Damian demands, tugging on his sleeve to halt his movement. 

The pet pauses to stare expectantly at Damian for a moment before he resumes his journey. 

It is the most expression he has displayed in the weeks since their first meeting. 

Damian returns the sword to its seat and follows, not because it is what his mother's pet expects of him, but because he intends to stop the pet if he decides to do anything untoward to the bird. 

If Mother can keep such a simple creature as a pet, then Damian is well within his rights to keep an intelligent bird as a pet. At least, it will be useful. 

Unlike Mother's. 

The pet leads Damian to his own room inside Mother's quarters. 

He mostly ignores Damian's presence and questions as he goes about gathering items from Mother's first aid supplies. 

Silently, as he always is, Mother's pet cleans the dirt and blood from the crow's broken wing, before carefully bandaging it. 

His fingers are quick, steady and careful as he treats the bird's injuries. The entire time, he has Damian performing menial tasks, like retrieving the honey or holding the bird in place as he bandages the wing. 

Damian has no idea how he possesses the skills or knowledge to do any of it. Damian could barely refrain from holding the bird too tightly when he first picked it up. 

Once the bird is cleaned and its wing properly bandaged and restrained, ~~Mother's pet~~ his brother hands Damian a sugar solution. 

He takes the first turn feeding it to the bird through a straw before turning the straw over to Damian with the same expectant look. 

The crow drinks eagerly from the straw when Damian presents it with the water. He throws a proud grin at the boy, chest puffing with pride. 

"It needs a name," Damian informs his accomplice. "I think Bertramus is a good name."

His companion doesn't say anything, but for the first time, Damian knows he understood him. 

After the feeding and the bird has settled into the box that Damian has procured and set up for it, Damian turns to the boy. 

His brother needs a name, too. He had been too angry to pay attention when mother introduced them. Perhaps he will not mind if Damian chooses a new one for him. 

"Mother said you are my brother," 

The boy tears his gaze away from Bertramus to fix them on Damian. They remain as blank as they were when Damian had run into him earlier. 

"She said brothers look out for each other," Damian continues. "I do not need anyone to look out for me. I am perfectly self-sufficient." 

Al Ghuls do not need anyone. Grandfather is making sure of it, and when he leaves here today, he will study all that he can on caring for injured birds. 

"But perhaps you do and having an ally is not so terrible." 

As is his habit, his brother does not say anything in response. 

"First, you need a name." After a moment of contemplating, he declares. "I shall call you  
Aadil."

This time, in response, Aadil pats Damian's head.


End file.
